


Court Duels

by lea_hazel



Series: Decline and Fall [3]
Category: Seven Kingdoms: The Princess Problem (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Intrigue, Politics, Revaire, Verbal Sparring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 13:01:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13704987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lea_hazel/pseuds/lea_hazel
Summary: Verity makes her first friend in Revaire. Sort of.





	Court Duels

There were limited sources of entertainment, for a Princess of Revaire. At least during daylight, and the Queen had made it very clear to Verity that whatever evening entertainments were available were severely restricted, if she wanted to maintain her reputation. The engagement could still be dissolved, after all, though the Queen would not be so vulgar as to say as much explicitly. The end result of which was, she spent very little time with Princess Gisette and her social set, comparatively speaking. Not that Verity minded having quiet evenings now and then, nor did she especially feel the lack of the more indulgent activities. But she had no friends in Revaire yet, and she was terribly bored at times, and often lonely.

Until the day when Princess Gisette surprised her by showing an uncommon degree of charity, almost entirely unvarnished by malice. She darkened Verity's doorway unexpectedly one afternoon, while Verity was answering some tedious letters from distant relatives eager to curry favor. With a sweet smile she invited her _dear sister_  to join her small entourage for the afternoon, a clique of half a dozen ladies with sun-lightened hair and immaculate pastel day dresses.

Of course she had to accept.

"How charming you look today, Princess Verity," said Gisette. "Revaire fashion suits you. Doesn't it, ladies?"

The ladies of her entourage hastened to agree, reverberating their approval of colors and cuts through the palace hallways.

"What is today's entertainment, if I might ask?" said Verity, deflecting the conversation away from the spiraling abyss of fashion.

"Well," said Gisette with a sly smile, "the men entertain themselves at the training yards, with their shows of strength and bravery and so on, and us girls? Well, we like to entertain ourselves at their expense."

The pastel coterie broke into a fit of giggling.

"The view is fine, and the gentlemen can be quite entertaining," concluded the Princess.

"A delightful way to spend an afternoon," agreed Verity readily.

Boys and fashion, then. At that moment Verity would have given anything for a quick game of Onvu with Avalie, even if she was sure to suffer a humiliating defeat.

"There might even be something in the training yards to draw your interest, Princess Verity," piped up one of the girls, Stefanie was her name, she thought.

Two other ladies exchanged looks with each other, and then with Stefanie, then burst into tinkling laughter.

"A familiar face," supplied Roxana with a more subtle smile.

Ah, that clarified things nicely. And indeed, when they arrived at the training yard and settled themselves on the balcony overlooking it, she spotted her fiance among the gaggle of milling gentlemen. He wasn't hard to notice, seeing as how he stood out even among his tall, fair countrymen, let alone those among them with darker coloring, like her own. Many of those came from mixed or old blood families, she had learned, a fraught topic best approached delicately, if at all.

She was bemused, then, to spot another cluster of young ladies congregating on the balcony opposite from theirs. Two stood out among them, one a dark-skinned beauty in a vividly pink Corvali style gown, and the other a young lady of fair skin and dark hair. The latter must have noticed herself getting noticed, because she caught her eye for a moment, then turned and exchanged soft words with her companion. The companion broke into laughter, which carried over the open yard, causing several of the gentlemen to lose concentration in their sparring and be rewarded accordingly with bruises. This only caused, if anything, greater merriment among the watching ladies.

"Now you've done it," said Roxana, her eyes dancing. "If the boys notice us watching, they'll start acting self-conscious. It quite spoils the fun of it all."

Gisette was not to be distracted with trifles. Her eyes alighted on the strange lady across the way, who was still shooting Verity subtle glances here and there. "Who's your new friend, Princess Verity?" she asked. "You must introduce us."

"Hardly a new friend," said Verity. "I don't even know her name."

"That, my dears," said Roxana, "is Lady Nerissa. Well-bred but poor, and recently up from the country. Rumor has it she's hunting for a rich husband."

"Lucky timing," said Stefanie. "If she'd come up to the city six months sooner, Princess Verity, you'd be out a husband."

The girls broke into giggles, but Roxana made a thoughtful noise in her throat that was entirely lost on the others.

"She is quite pretty," said Verity by way of agreement.

The girls hastened to reassure her with flattery, which she accepted with as much grace as she could muster. But the flurry of compliments was broken up when the dark-haired girl approached their group, all smiles. She was dressed in crisp Revairian style, all narrow lines and too many buttons, but somehow the dress sat better on her slender frame than on Verity's own, curvier figure. When she was a respectful distance away, she curtsied neatly and waited to be acknowledged.

"We have company, ladies," said Gisette. "And who might you be, dear lady?"

"My name is Lady Nerissa, Your Highnesses," she said smoothly. "My companions instructed that I mustn't miss this opportunity to introduce myself to the Crown Prince's new bride, and welcome her to our fair kingdom."

Gisette smiled a thin, knife-like smile. "That's very kind of you, Lady Nerissa."

"I confess I feel myself very welcome indeed," said Verity, pasting on a smile, "surrounded by such excellent company." She made a broad gesture encompassing the group around her.

Gisette was only slightly mollified. "It's our duty to make you feel at home in Revaire as soon as may be possible, Princess Verity," she said. "Isn't that right, ladies?"

Her entourage hastened to agree.

Lady Roxana, who was standing suddenly just at Verity's elbow, murmured, "Do you think she has her sights set on the Prince?"

Equally softly, Verity replied, "I wouldn't mind overmuch if she did."

That made Roxana huff with contained laughter. It was no secret that the match between the Prince and Princess was politically arranged, rather than one of the summit's infamous love matches. Verity had been raised, albeit subtly, on the belief that a royal wife had no right to expect marital fidelity from her husband. Familiar as she was with Jarrod's less than superlative self-control, it seemed like a reasonable expectation to cultivate. More than that, she thought it might in some ways be a relief, although they'd discussed the matter very little and she had no idea what Jarrod's expectations of her were, once they were married. He didn't seem to enjoy women's company socially very much, so she imagined her time would mostly be her own. Still, so much the better to have another woman about to occupy his mind. She felt only slightly guilty for the uncharitable thought.

Her own party having dispersed, Gisette invited Nerissa to join her entourage for the afternoon's continued entertainment. The gentlemen of Revaire, it seemed, were apt to spend many hours of their time engaged in mock-fighting. Verity kept her reservations on the subject to herself, naturally, but sometime in the course of their idle chatter, Lady Nerissa caught her eye and flashed a brief, sardonic smile. It was the kind of smile that could make Verity immediately ten times more interested in befriending her. It seemed the country girl knew what she was about.

She leaned her elbows against the balustrade in a most unladylike manner, feigning to watch the pack of sweaty boys in the yard. A moment later she felt Nerissa settling in right beside her.

"I truly am pleased to meet you, Princess," she said.

Verity smiled. "And I truly appreciate it, Lady Nerissa."

"My friends call me Nissa," she replied. "You can call me that, if you like. Well, my friends and my brother."

"Your brother?" asked Verity, politely interested.

Nerissa smiled brightly. "My _twin_  brother. We have something in common, you see, after all."

That brought her presence into sharp focus. Roxana had been right, the sharp little thing, but perhaps not in the exact way she had intended. Nerissa _was_  interested in seducing a prince, just not the particular one Verity was intending to marry. No, she seemed to have her sights set on Dion. Wise, she supposed, what with Revaire being the way it is. For all she could say about being a Princess of Arland, and she supposed she could say a great deal to the right listener, it was certainly _safer_  than Revaire. It wasn't hard for her to imagine her old homeland seeming a refuge to a Revairian lady.

When it was getting closer to dinnertime the ladies began, one by one, to take their leave. To freshen up before dinner, for the most part, although some of them undoubtedly had more exciting evening plans to dress for. The two Princesses would certainly need time to redress. This was one of the first requirements of deportment that the Queen of Revaire had laid down for Verity when she first arrived. Lady Nerissa was also meaning to leave, before Gisette stopped her with a soft touch on her shoulder.

"You simply must join us for tea later this week, Lady Nerissa," she said, her voice honey-sweet.

"Your Highness is too kind," said Nerissa, and quickly added, "I'd be delighted to."

"Marvelous!" said Roxana, clapping her hands together. "Where shall I send your invitation to? Do you have a card?"

Nerissa's radiant smile dimmed, but only for a fraction of a second. "I'm residing under Lady Kavita's very generous hospitality at the moment," she replied. "At the Corval diplomatic suite."

"You must introduce me to her, some day," said Verity, interjecting swiftly before the opportunity could pass. "I have a number of connections in Corval, and I imagine we might have a thing or two to discuss."

"I'll broach the matter with her, Your Highness," said Nerissa. "I cannot imagine her objecting, and if she does, I'll simply tell her how delightful you are myself, and she's sure to change her mind."

She finished taking her leave and retreated with great and strategic dignity, which Verity could only grudgingly respect. She could just see Nerissa's figure vanishing behind a pillar when she heard a voice behind her left shoulder. Her heart gave an anxious twist in her chest, but she rebuked it and turned around with the greatest measure of grace she could invoke.

"Who was that?" asked Jarrod, his eyes fixed in the very direction Nerissa had disappeared to.

"You gave me a start," said Verity.

Jarrod tore his eyes away and looked down at her, rather a long way down since he was standing just at her shoulder. Then he turned away and looked at his sister.

"Who was it?" he asked again, more curtly.

"New girl," said Gisette, in a tone that brooked no elaboration. She shifted subtly in Verity's direction. "Come, Princess Verity," she said. "If we don't make haste, we'll be late for dinner."

Verity curtsied to her fiance and offered Gisette her arm, which the latter clasped with an iron grip. At a deceptively leisurely stroll, they made their way back to the royal living quarters, leaving behind a dumb-founded Jarrod, standing on the balcony silently, apparently deep in thought. Whether or not Nerissa ended up making a play for the Prince, it was now obvious that his sister would do all in her power to prevent it. Verity found herself perversely grateful. Despite all her icy looks and poisonous comments, it seemed Princess Gisette approved of her after all, if that was what her disapproval looked like. She rather felt sorry for Lady Nerissa.


End file.
